More kids, more taxes ?

At first it might seem that Jim Bastow of Cranston has

    a reasonable complaint : Why should local public schools depend as

    much on the tax payers without children as taxpayers with hordes of

    them being educated by the community ?

           But what if the parents are rather poor and have five or six kids

    in the public schools ?  Remember education is compulsory - and rightly

    so ! - until a kid is 16 years old . Imagine the town harassing such

    a family for taxes it can hardly afford !

           Most " progressive " minded people believe that public education

    is a good thing , indeed a human right . What is UNFAIR is that the

    quality of education in a small state like Rhode Island should vary

    greatly from community to community, the average income in each being

    a decisive factor.

           Mr. Bastow ( letter to the editor , Oct 6 ) needs a stronger

    sense of community. Even cranky old bachelors -in their fading years -

    will be supported by a young and EDUCATED work force.

         I am pleased to see so many newspapers pay so much attention to

    the public education issue. Unlike Monagate, it really does matter !